


The Converse and Coffee tales

by BronzeDragon13



Category: National Treasure (Movies)
Genre: Riley Poole deserves more love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-08-17 02:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16507529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BronzeDragon13/pseuds/BronzeDragon13
Summary: On the surface, Riley is known as Ben Gates sidekick to all his treasure hunts. There's a lot more to him than that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Riley has his preferences. Sometimes he wishes more people knew about them.

1) Riley can't stand to have anything on his feet when he's sleeping. It drove his mom insane, for sure, since she would buy him comfortable socks or even those footed pajamas when he was younger, but nothing ever worked. Ben didn't like it either, constantly getting on his case about getting sick, frostbite, and a whole bunch of other things. Riley just didn't like anything on his feet. He got clever with it, removing his socks under the covers and storing them under his pillow, and then putting them back on when he woke up. 

2) He enjoys gardening. Riley thinks his curiosity with it grew from his grandfather, since he had a giant garden, and Riley would get lost in it, asking about plant after plant, and then going to the library to hunt down any additional information. His presents, for birthdays or Christmas, were plant themed, and always included information that Riley could use. In his current apartment, Riley has several cacti and a devil's ivy. Someday, he wants to move where he has land and create his own sprawling garden.

3) Fun houses are not his thing. He got lost in one when he was five and between the minimal lights, loud music, and generally have no clue where he was, Riley had a good old fashion meltdown. His brother found him, eventually, since he had curled up in one of the corners, and Riley was such a tiny kid that he could blend in anywhere. Since then, he always feels overwhelmed in fun houses, regardless of the size, and Ben has learned to stop asking about it.

4) Ben likes to think he knows everything about him. Riley lets him continue thinking that because there are parts to his life that he doesn't want to talk about. He doesn't like talking about the years he spent living more at his grandparents house than his own home. He doesn't talk about how his sister just decided to leave one day and not look back. He doesn't talk about how his brother was his hero right up until the time he wasn't. It's easier to let Ben think he knows everything rather than let the detective loose in his past.

5) He has a thing for superheroes. The age old debate between DC and Marvel is one topic that will keep him amused for hours. He loves watching the movies, old and new, and he even has a few stacks of comic books, still in their protective, plastic sleeves in his apartment. He wants to go to Comic Con someday. His favorite sweatpants have the Batman logo all over the fabric and his socks are revolve around the different superhero personas. He enjoys the fuzzy, Iron Man ones the best.

6) Riley has run away from home twice. The first time was when he was seven. He doesn't really think it counts, since all he did was run to the library and then stayed there until his mom was called to come and get him. The second time was much more intentional. He was twelve. Loaded with a backpack, filled with maps, first aid, food, and money from his paper route, Riley had gotten a bus ticket and was almost on the bus when his brother found him. He spent the next four months grounded and closely watched.

7) From a young age, Riley was told that he was clever. He was quiet, until he learned what sarcasm was, and could easily blend into a crowd. He was a genius with computers, and coding soon became one of his passions, and his family left him to it. Sometimes it got lonely, like when no one else in class understood the math problem on the fifth try and Riley had already finished his worksheet and was just sitting there. Meeting other computer geeks, and later on other hackers, helped some.

8) He really hates it when Ben gets all the credit for things. He hates it even more when Abigail does as well. Riley knows he's smart. He knows that there are things that he does that allow Ben to succeed. He often wonders, privately, what would have happened to Ben if he had said no to that offer years ago. If he had stayed with his old job and told the strange man to piss off. But, he doesn't say those thoughts. He swallows down his hurt and fades into the background.

9) His dad hit him once. He was nine, and excited about completing his first line of coding. He wanted to show his dad and clearly didn't notice that his dad was in no shape to have company. The bottle of Jack Daniels was on the floor and his dad was slouched in his chair. When Riley went to hand him the paper, smile on his face, what he got was a hand colliding with his cheek. Mom was furious, and his siblings bundled him up and took him somewhere else, but the damage was done. Riley hide when his dad drank and didn't bring him another piece of coding again. 

10) Riley doesn't mention the offers he gets from other companies. They want him to come work for them, are impressed with his computer abilities, and sometimes Riley entertains the idea. He'll go, have an interview, and once or twice he'll step in as a consult. He does have a computer engineering degree. It's fun and exciting to be around other people that understand the same terms, who don't get lost of bored when he gets going on an idea, who want to keep pushing on something until it works. He thinks about those opportunities a lot.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Riley likes to think that he's interesting...sometimes...if anyone cared to know...

1) Riley adores sour candy. He thinks it goes back to when his mom used to work at the movie theaters; she would take him to work, since childcare was expensive, and Riley was a quiet kid. He didn't try to get into trouble. If anything, he had his beaten up Gameboy, and the staff didn't care if he snuck into the theaters to see movies. His mom would give him candy from behind the kiosk, and the sweeter candies would sell out first, so he had his pick of sour gummy worms, sour patch kids, or other tart snacks.

2) Ben doesn't know about his siblings. It isn't because Riley kept it a secret, it's just that Ben never asked. Ben didn't ask a lot of Riley, come to think of it. Riley, on the other hand, knew all about Ben's life, and family, and dreams, and on and on and on. He's met Ben's parents more times than he's seen his own mom since graduating from college. And Ben still didn't ask. One time, when the he was with Abigail and Ben, his sister called. Neither of them could hide their shock when they realized he had a sibling; he shrugged and said that he would have told them if they ever asked. 

3) He really enjoys watching movies alone. Not that watching a film with someone else is bad, but Riley likes to get sucked in and other people are annoying. Ben is the worse to watch a movie with. He'll ask questions, talk over movie dialog, or generally be annoying. Now, Riley doesn't say when he's going to the movies. When he's at home, he'll put his phone on do not distrub or just tell whoever is trying to reach him that he's busy. Movie time is sacred.

4) Trevor, his older brother, is probably the one he talks to the most out of his family. Sure, he doesn't live the same state, but he always texts back or answers the phone. They can Facetime each other for hours; sometimes they don't talk about anything, Trevor working on his latest case, Riley coding, other times they both talk at warp speeds. Ben might be his friend, maybe his best friend, but Trevor will always have his back. That's what big brothers do. 

5) Riley got his glasses later on life. They didn't have a lot of money growing up and a pair of expensive frames wasn't deemed worthy enough to spend their limited income on. Spending all his time in front of computer screens didn't help either. So, when he got to college, and finally had a decent insurance coverage, he managed to get an eye exam and a pair of glasses. He was offered contacts but Riley refused. He didn't like the idea of sticking something in his eyes and glasses were so much easier to manage.

6) He was the stereotypical nerd kid in high school. Involved in chess club, and part of the local robotics team, and totally ungifted in sports, Riley was the definition of a nerd. He enjoyed his fellow nerd friends, some of whom he still keeps in touch with today, and he grew to hate the jocks. Along with being smarter than most, as well as tinier, Riley was a target for bullying. It wasn't terrible, not as bad as it could have been, so he took the punches, and shoves, and whispered threats because no one else would help him. 

7) Abigail can get on his nerves quickly. She thinks that she knows best, or more than him, or generally thinks that she is better. Riley has long since gotten over it. Tuning her out when she gets into one of those rants works wonders. Ben is oblivious, as usual, and Riley knows when to pick his battles. There was one time when Abigail insisted that she could fix her own laptop. Two weeks and over a dozen additional viruses due to her own carelessness, Riley was grinning as she begged him to help her.

8) During the holiday's, Riley goes home to see his family. Never his mom, but his sister, brother, and he usually make do together. Trevor, always the worried older brother, cooks enough food to feed an army. He goes on and on about Riley being too thin and forces him to have seconds. Molly, his kickass sister, keeps them both laughing with her stories from the travel business. They don't talk about mom, or dad, or anyone else. It's always just the three of them. 

9) In the beginning, before the treasure hunt really started to kick off, Riley privately thought that Ian wasn't too bad. Sure, he was determined and ruthless, but Riley could respect that. He had been ambitious like that too at one point in his life. Besides, he was one of the few that could keep up when Riley got going. The Brit taught him how to properly shoot, how to load and maintain a gun, and all the things to do if someone tried to gain the upperhand if they were seperated. 

10) Ian asked him to visit one time. Riley had a lot of feelings about it, and a lot of guilt since he didn't think that Ben would ever sell Ian out. Sure, Ian had been a jerk to do what he had, but they had been friends at one point. Ben always preached that he wasn't the type of guy to use another person to get out of a situation. So, Riley went in, visited with Ian, and heard what he had to say. The first few times weren't pretty, lots of yelling on Ian's side, and Riley dealt with it. Not like Ben would come to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, yesterday was training day at work (7+ hours of training...) and tomorrow is Thanksgiving and food! If you're traveling, be safe and have fun :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kid Riley had to learn quickly. Adult Riley doesn't understand why this is so hard for others to understand.

1) The last memory of his father is of him screaming. The man had been drunk, stumbling along the wall and floor, knocking things over. Pictures were shattered, furniture disrupted, and he and his siblings hid upstairs. Trevor took him and Molly into the smaller room off of the office. He blocked the door and then had his two younger siblings hide in the closet. Molly kept him pressed to her chest, covering his ears, as if she could protect him from all of the awful things their father said. Trevor eventually went downstairs, ordering them not to open the door for anyone but him.

2) When Riley was 3, he wanted to be a supervillain. That's right, not a hero, a villain. He thought that the villains were cool, had some awesome lines in all the movies or comics, and he liked the costumes. Trevor thought he was being silly, but Riley didn't change his mind. Now, years later, he often thought about how younger Riley might have been onto something. The villains only became villains because they had no other options. Riley wanted to protect his siblings, by any means necessary, and sometimes, villains had to do horrible, nasty things to get stuff done. 

3) "Are you sure that you're ok?" Molly doesn't call often and when she does Riley drops everything. Ben is probably frowning at him, as Riley took the call outside, not wanting the Gates to listen in. Patrick has been grilling him on his family, and Ben chimed in frequently, which set Riley on edge. Riley was private and didn't see a need to open up to people who clearly only wanted to know because they could. "I'm okay, Mols, just working hard." He wondered if she could hear the lie in his voice.

4) Shaun was the only death from the treasure hunt. Riley wasn't close with him, and he didn't try to be buddy-buddy, but Shaun was alright. He was a night owl like Riley. The two would stay up, often leaving the room when Ben and Ian got into another pissing contest, and would work together, silently, through the night. Shaun made the best coffee, and Riley helped him correct his mac-and-cheese problem. When Shaun fell...Riley still has nightmares about it. 

5) His mom had always been going downhill. Sure, she had her moments, moments where she acted like a mom, but there were too many times when one of them had to be the parent. How many times Molly would sign the checks for the bills, or when Trevor used his money from the paper route for groceries, or when Riley would shower at school because the water bill wasn't paid yet and they needed to keep clean. Riley isn't sure if he'll ever forgive his mom for that, for making sure none of them ever felt like a kid.

6) Riley still has a good chuck of cash from the treasure hunt. He spent some on his car, yes, but Riley has always loved the idea of speed and comfort. Now, he can get away in both. His old clunker of a car is gone. Trevor loves riding in it, always wanting to go faster, and he's the only other person Riley will let touch the car. Molly doesn't like the Ferrari as much; she complains that the wind messes her hair up to much and she always yells at Trevor for trying to undo his seatbelt. 

7) "You don't talk much about yourself." Ian says. They've been silent the majority of this visit. "Well, there isn't much to talk about." Riley replies back. Ian frowns at him. The wall of glass between them seems pointless, anyone who knew Ian would know that his words are the best weapons he has, and Riley plays with the metal cord on the phone. The thing is cheap, Riley could easily break it and rebuild it, but he doesn't. "Now, Riley, I thought we agreed not to lie to one another." Ian chides. 

8) The worst argument he has with Ben results in him fly off to spend time with Trevor. He finally has enough, finally calls Ben out on his shit, and just...leaves. It's clear Ben sees him as an add on, an additional tool to use and abuse, and Riley can't stand it anymore. He presses Ben for answers, asks him question after question, ignoring Abigail on the sidelines. He's had enough. Driving back to his apartment is a blur, as is packing, and soon he's in the air, going home. He doesn't talk to Ben for a month. 

9) Molly visits at least once a year. They make a week of it, going to all these little hole in the wall places, the random shops, and spend way too much time laughing at mundane things. They trade off on who pays the bill, and Molly always spoils him when the things she brings back for him. He's got little trinkets from all over the globe. Generally, he leaves his phone off during these visits, wanting to devote his attention to his sister, and isn't shocked when he receives nothing after his phone is back on. 

10) Riley learned to cook from his grandmother. She was used to feeding others, her family was large when they were alive, and any grandmother enjoyed feeding her grandkids. Riley easily spent the majority of the time there in the kitchen, doing his homework or helping gather ingredients. Grandmother taught him how to make things from scratch, how to double or triple a recipe, and how to keep a neat and orderly kitchen. He loved her for it and soon he was the one feeding his siblings when things got rough at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello peeps! Last week of the fall semester and 16 days till Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying to get into the habit of trying out different fandoms. And Riley Poole is adorable and smart and funny, so he's gonna be a new muse for the time being :) read and enjoy!


End file.
